www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall "Grant asylum to Snowden shows Russia guards ideals of freedom"

"Granting asylum to Snowden to show Russia guards ideals of freedom" - Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplan

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=10673

Moscow, July 31, Interfax - Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for Church and Society Relations, said he welcomed Russia's stance regarding granting asylum to former CIA employee Edward Snowden.

"It is pleasant that Russia shows independence in this case, as well as in many others, regardless of serious pressure," the priest told the Interfax-Religion correspondent.

The situation with Snowden is a landmark and is very widely discussed in Russia and in the world, and "Russia's image as a country supporting true ideals of freedom depends on how Russia will act in this situation," Father Vsevolod said.

Snowden reminded the world of what many Orthodox Christians have been saying for many years - "the prospect of the global totalitarian electronic regime to appear becomes real," he said.

"First, people are hooked up on convenient communication means with authorities, business and each other, then people find themselves bound to certain services and as a result economic and political owners of these services get huge and awful power over people, they can not but be tempted to use this power to control an individual and such control could be much more strict than all totalitarian systems known in the 20th century," the priest said.

Whatever anyone says, ideal rule of people never existed anywhere and never will, Fr. Vsevolod said.

"Any political system establishes the power of few [people] over many [people] and if in the 20th century the roughest forms of such power worked though brutal enforcement, now they work through soft power, through total information gathering and through 'mild' imposing on a person first via slogans, then via laws of strict ideological sets - such as declaring the western political system as the only possible one, marginalizing the religion, criticizing market fundamentalism, left political ides etc.," the priest said.

In these circumstances, Russia "could quite possibly be urged to protect real freedom, freedom from global ideological dictatorship, from electronic concentration camp," he said.

In order to do this, it is probably worth developing a system of electronic communications, national and possibly global one, independent from existing global centers, the church representative said. "The country has brains for this, there will be the will as well, I hope," he said.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

"If these reports are accurate, Americans in Washington should consider this a game changer in our relationship with Russia," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement, calling Russia's decision "provocative" and "a sign of Vladimir Putin's clear lack of respect for President Obama." Graham called for the U.S. government to meet the decision with a "firm response," which he did not describe.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called it a "slap in the face of all Americans."

read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...tatus/?cmpid=googextension#ixzz2ajxB6yYZ

And why is the Mr. Big in Washington slapping the face of traditional America and the face of Christianity?

Senator McCain, I see why you lost the election.

Tea came out my nose when I read Archpriest Vsevolod's unctuous missive.

Remember, Putin's government has a long, well-documented history of hunting down Russian dissidents granted asylum in other countries. . . and killing them.

But that's OK, because Putin is building an Orthodox Paradise in Russia.

Kind of like the Socialist Paradise Obama's building in America. Not to mention the kidnapping of the President of Bolivia in Obama's attempt to hunt down Snowden:
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/...-un-over-abduction-of-its-president?lite

Sad to say, both leaders are ruthless and have no credibility.

You're all on drugs.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Drugs sometimes seem a better alternative than ideology, cults of personality, or compliance with directives.

For example, consider this posting by DMD, shamelessly taken out of context:


I would say smart guy even after the Volstead Act.

^Lol....He thought so!

Wiser words than ones on the subject coming from the hallways of the MP.

while I totally agree with you on the hypocrisy of the statement I am also glad that for a moment Snowden is safe.

I agree. I see Snowden as a patriot. The US Constitution is under attack daily from our own government.

It won't make up for selling Alaska, but I guess it'll do.